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Many investors get frustrated by their lack of investment choices in their 401ks, where there are usually basic stock index funds and ETFs. For some, investing in individual stocks is the only way to build wealth quickly.

But can you get rich off of owning the basic stock index ETFs?

Are You Beating the S&P 500?

Over the last year, the S&P 500 has hit new highs and has gained 32%.

That’s a pretty hefty return, for any investment. Are you sure your favorite growth stocks are outperforming it?

Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) is up just 5.4% over the last year, even though it soared during the initial months of the pandemic.

Even mighty Chipotle (CMG - Free Report), which has busted out to new all-time highs this year, is up “just” 31% in the last year.

Similarly, one of the hottest retailers on the Street, Lululemon (LULU - Free Report) has gained “only” 28.9% over the last year.

Other hot stocks have certainly outperformed, including Tesla and Shopify, but it may not be as easy to “beat” the index as you think, especially when the index is seeing big gains.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq-100 ETFs: Boring?

Investing in the S&P 500 may seem “boring” but during bull markets, it can be anything but.

The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO - Free Report) has a 10-year annualized return of 16.5%. $10,000 invested in Sep 2011 was $46,426 by Sep 2021.

But the INVESCO QQQ ETF (QQQ - Free Report), which tracks the Nasdaq 100, is even hotter. This “boring” index ETF has a 10-year annualized return of 21.25%.

$10,000 invested in Sep 2011 in the QQQ was $66,107 by Sep 2021.